The present disclosure relates to a propulsion system having integrated designs for at least a nacelle and a turbofan gas turbine engine. Preferably, such integrated design accounts for an engine, an engine nacelle, and structure for connecting an engine to a wing, such as an engine pylon or portions thereof.
The aerospace industry typically approaches the design of a wing, pylon, nacelle and engine in a disjoined, hierarchical or isolated manner. Engine designers must often meet design requirements specified by airframe customers. This approach may constrain or undesirably affect the design or implementation of the engine, nacelle, mounting, and various related structure.
Designing an integrated propulsion system requires optimizing force distributions and reactions at engine mounts. A gas turbine engine may be mounted at various points on an aircraft, such as a pylon integrated with an aircraft structure. An engine mounting configuration ensures the transmission of loads between the engine and the aircraft structure. The loads typically include the weight of the engine, its thrust, aerodynamic loads, maneuver loads, and rotary torque about the engine axis. The engine mounting configuration must also absorb the deformations to which the engine is subjected during different flight phases, and for example, the dimensional variations due to thermal expansion and retraction.